Firing mechanism



Feb, 115, i949.

JAA *Y L. A. SKINNER ETAL 'Flame MECHANISM Filed Jan. 3l, 1944 I LE5L|EA E|K|NNER,

4 JULIUSAFDLEE,

Patented Feb. l5, 1949 UNITED STATE CFFlCE FIRING MECHANISM retary of War Application January 31, 1944, Serial No. 520,418

(Cl. l2-69) (Granted under the act of' March 3, 1883, as amended April 30, 1928; 370 O. G. 757) 3 Claims.

l The invention described. herein may be manv faotured and used by or for the Government for governmental purposes, without the payment to us. of any royalty thereon.

This. invention relates to a ring mechanism,

more particularly to a semi-automatic firing mechanism for a rocket launcher.

It is an object of thi's invention to provide a nring mechanism for a rocket launcher that is cocked by the action of the gas blast of the rocket projectile or manually.

The specific nature of the invention as well as other objects and advantages thereof will clearly appear fromv a description oi a preferred embodiment as shown in theA accompanying drawing in which:

Fig. l is a fragmentary longitudinal sectional View oi a rocket projector showing the arrangement of the firing mechanism.

Fig. 2 is an enlarged detail View of the sear and trigger arrangement.

The ring mechanism embodying this invention is shown in assembled relation on a rocket projector. A trigger housing 25 and hammer housing Se are suitably secured to the underside oi rocket projector tube 35 as `by welding. A cooking lever I8v is pivotally mounted on the forwardv portion of trigger housingv 25 by a transverse pin 2. The cocldng lever il) is preferably integrally formed with a pistol grip 56 as shown in the drawing and a spring catch 3 is provided to secure such grip'to housing 25. Catch 3` comprises a spring portion 5 and an integral head portion 5. The lower corner ci head portion engages a notch 'i provided inr trigger housing 25. Catch t is secured to pistol grip 55 as by a screw li. The upper end of catch 3 is of such shape that it maybe conveniently engaged by the thumb oi the operator in order to disengage such catch from notch l so that pistol grip 53 and lever i0 may be pivoted downwardly as'shown in dotted outline in the drawing for a purpose to be described.

A hammer 20 is pivotally mounted within hammer housing 3B- as by a pin M. Hammer 2!! is provided with an integral lug l 5 near the pivoted end of hammer 2l). A transverse holev l' is provided in lngv I5 which is spaced from the pivotal axis of hammer 2i). A ring pin l? is integrally formed on the upper end of hammer 2li as shown in the drawing. Firing pin l? is arranged to strike a conventional primer i8 such as utilized in small arms cartridges which is axially mounted at the rear end of a rocket I9 placed within launcher tube 35.

A rod 2l is provided to connect hammer 2U with a hammer spring 22. Hammer spring 22 is horizontally mounted within a hamm-er spring housing 8 mounted on the underside of launcher tube 35 within trigger housing 25 and suitably secured to tube 35 as by welding. Hammer spring housing 8 comprises a hollow thin walled member which denes a cylindrical recess i3. Hammer spring 2.2 surrounds rod 2l and the right end of rod 2! as shown inthe drawing is upset over a washer 23 to secure. rod 2l to spring 22. The other end of rod 2lV is pivotally connected to hammer 20 by inserting a bent end porti-on of rod 2l thru hole i6 in lug l5. A push rod Il is pivotally secured to the upper end of cooking lever H3 by a pin l2 and projects into hammer spring housingv 8 thru an elongated hole 9.

A sear 2d is pivotally mounted within housing 25 by a transverse pin 26 directly underneath hammer spring housing 8 as shown in the drawing. Sear 2d comprises an integral upstanding lug 2i which has a downwardly sloped top surface 23. Lug 2l projects upwardly thru a hole 29 in the bottom of spring. housing 8 where it engages the right hand surface of washer 23'. An integral arm 3l projects forwardly in a horizontal plane from lug 2 as shown in the drawing. A spring is placed between arm 3 l on the top end there.- of and the underside of spring housing 8 to bias arm 3i downwardly and hence pivot lug 2 into the path of washer 23. An integral rearwardly projecting lug 33 is provided on the rear of sear Ze having a horizontal dat top surface 34 which is engaged by a disconnect-or 3S to be presently described.

A. trigger I is pivotally mounted within housing 25 by a transverse pin. 31. Trigger l is of conventional configuration and is arranged to be biased against the pressure of the operators iinger by a. spring 33 horizontally mounted in back or the center of trigger l. One end of spring 38 rests within a recess 39' in the ybackV of trigger i while the other end of spring 38 abuts a transverse pin d mounted in trigger housing 25. The disconnector 36 comprises a bifurcated member which straddles trigger l and is pivotally mounted on the upper end thereo;^ by a transverse pin i. A forwardly projecting'end 53 of disconnector 3@ engages the flat surface 34 of lug 33. A sloped surface is provided on the end of disconnector to ride on a sloped surface El provided on the underside of lug 33. A spring 43 surrounds pin d! and is connected in such fashion so as to bias disconnector 3S in a countercl'ockwise direction as shown in the drawing. A pin 44 radially disposed to pin 3i and suitably secured thereto is provided to limit the counterclockwise movement of disconnector 3B when such pin strikes a transverse pin mounted on trigger l. A transverse pin 99 mounted in back of Sear 26 limits the clockwise rotation of sear 24 to the position shown in the drawing.

A rocket positioning detent i1 is provided on the periphery of projector tube 35 to retain the rocket projectile in its proper location within tube 35. Detent 31 comprises a lever 3 and a conically shaped plunger |39. Lever 38 is pivotally mounted Within a bracket 59 by a transverse pin 5l. Bracket 59 is secured to the top of tube 35 as by welding. A spring 53 rests in a recess 52 provided on the underside of lever 48 and on top of tube 35 to bias the plunger 49 downwardly thru a hole 53 in tube 35 to engage an annular groove 55 provided about the outer periphery of rocket i9.

In the uncooked position of the mechanism hammer 29 is vertical and Washer 23 is held adjacent the end of hammer spring housing 3 by hammer spring 22. Hammer 29 is cocked by unlatching catch 3 out o engagement with notch i in housing 25 by pressing outwardly and downwardly on the head 6' of catch 3. This frees pistol grip 53 so that such grip and lever I0 may be pivoted about pin 2 to the position shown in dotted outline in Fig. 1. This movement forces push rod II against the upset end of connecting rod 2i and moves connecting rod 2I to the left as shown in the appended drawing.

This movement forces washer 23 to ride over the sloped surface 28 of sear 24 thereby rotating sear in a ccunterclockwise direction out of the path of Washer 23. As rod 2I is forced to the left the hammer 29 is lowered to a horizontal position within hammer housing 30. When Washer 23 clears the end of lug 21 spring 32 immediately pivots sear 24 into engagement with the rear surface of washer 23. Lever I9 is then returned `to the closed position wherecomes disengaged from surface 34, spring 32 biases the lug 21 in a clockwise direction up- Wardly thru hole 29 into the path of Washer 23.

The gas blast resulting from the discharge of rocket I9 strikes against the raised hammer 20 and pivots it rearwardly to the cocked position. In so doing, connecting rod 2| is forced to the left as viewed in the drawing, thereby causing washer 23 to ride along the -sloped surface 28 of sear 24 camming such sear out of its path and placing spring 22 under compression. As washer 23 passes over the sloped surface 28 of sear 22, spring 32 immediately biases lug 21 into the path of washer 23 thereby holding the hammer 20 in a cocked position. It should be noted however that the maintenance of trigger pull on trigger I keeps disconnector 36 pivoted out of the path of Sear extension 33. Trigger I must be released before the mechanism is placed in condition to again release scar 213. When the trigger I is released, spring 38 biases such trigger forwardly vand spring 43 of disconnector 36 permits the sloped surface 42 of disconnector 35 to slide past the sloped underside 51 of lug 33 whereupon the disconnector will engage the at surface 34 of sear 24. The mechanism is then in the cocked position and is ready to lire.

From the foregoing description it is readily apparent that a positive semi-automatic firing mechanism for a rocket projector is hereby provided which can be cocked either manually or by the gas blast of the rocket projectile.

We claim:

Y1. In a iirearm -of the type having a trigger housing and a hammer pivotally movable into and out of the bore of the rearm and controlled by a spring-pressed operating rod terminating forwardly in the trigger housing, the improvement comprising a trigger guard pivotally 4o mounted on said trigger housing as a first-class upon catch 3 engages notch 1 thereby locking lever I3 in the closed position and removing push rod Il from the end of connecting rod 2i. The bias of hammer spring 22 forces lug 21 against pin 35 thereby preventing rotational movement in a clockwise direction of sear 2d about pin 23 and hence retains washer 23 and *f hammer 2S in the cocked position shown in Fig. 1. Y

The rocket projectile I9 is inserted in the rear of tube 35 and is positioned therein by detent i? which is biased into groove 55 in rocket i9 by spring 53. Rocket I9 is discharged when trigger i is pulled to the leit as shown in the drawing. When the trigger is pulled the disconnector 33 bears against the flat surfaces 34 of lug 33 of sear 2li and forces -sear 23 to rotate in a counterclockwise direction about pin 23. When the uppermost end of lug 21 clears the end of Washer 23, spring 22 immediately forces Washer 23 and hence rod 2I to the right. This movement is transmitted to the hammer 22 thru the connection of rod 2| to hammer 20 thereby pivoting hammer 20 to an upright position, whereupon firing pin l1 strikes primer i8 a smart blow thereby eiecting discharge of rocket projectile i3. As trigger i is pulled rearwardly `to its fullest extent disconnector 33 continues to rotate sear 2Q in a counterclockwise direction until disconnector 3S slips oli of the iiat surface 34 of lug 33. Immediately disconnector 36 belever, and having on its distal end a plunger arranged to engage and move said operating rod to the cocked position on p-ivotal movement of said trigger guard.

2. In a rearm of the type having a trigger housing and a hammer pivotally movable into and out of the bore of the rearm and controlled by a spring-pressed operating rod terminating forwardly in said trigger housing, the improvement comprising a trigger guard pivotally mounted on said trigger housing as a rstclass lever, and having on its distal end a plunger extending into said trigger housing for actuating the operating rod.

3. In a device as in claim 2, a slip-spring catch for said trigger guard in its normal position.

LESLIE A. SKINNER. JULIUS A. FOLSE.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the le of Vthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS 

